Pulse.
She wasn't exactly dead…
But she wasn't exactly alive either…
What was she then?
0ooo0ooo0ooo0
He couldn't believe it the first time he saw and heard it from Poppy Pomfrey, but within days it had become like a routine. He would visit the infirmary, check Hermione's vital signs and sit next to her, reading a book or just watching the rise and fall of her chest while she remained in a deep sleep.
"Do you think that he feels guilty about it, Minerva?" Poppy whispered a few beds away, looking at them with great sadness. "He comes every day at the same hour and leaves at the same hour. He just sits there silently, as if he were expecting a miracle to happen!"
"I can't tell if he feels guilty. This terrible accident did happen during one of his classes, but it certainly isn't his fault. At least, not directly..." The elder witch said sombrely, frowning a little bit. "I do hope this experience helps him to realize that he can't continue scaring his students to death. Albus asked him to watch over her and as much as he despises everything and everyone around him, he shouldn't refuse. Every time Longbottom sees him, he shakes like a jelly and I am sure that all the pressure that he puts on the poor boy helped to cause this accident". Minerva sighed heavily. "It's so sad. Longbottom feels so bad about it that he's more nervous than ever. Some of his classmates have started to act oddly around him and, like Severus, he comes every day to check on her. He feels terribly guilty for "killing" Hermione Granger."
"I can still remember what happened and it gives me goosebumps all over." The medi-witch shivered, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. "Another simple potion class which the poor boy managed to convert into a unmitigated disaster".
"The worst thing was telling her parents. I mean, she's their only daughter and now she's in a deep sleep, without any possibility of waking up again."
"She was a beautiful young witch, smarter than any other that I've seen before. Almost like you. Or…Lily." Poppy's voice broke a little, blinking a few tears away. "Potter and Weasley also feel terribly guilty. Before all this happened, they had some differences with her. I think that the Weasley boy had some kind of argument with her and she was crying. That was what the other girls said…"
The women sighed and turned their attention to the professor, sitting next to the young witch, watching her intently.
The saddest accident ever…